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'Royal Mail Ship' (sometimes 'Steam-ship', 'Steamer'), usually seen in its abbreviated form 'RMS', is the ship prefix used for seagoing vessels that carry mail under contract to the British Royal Mail. They have the right to fly the pennant of the Royal Mail when sailing.^[1][2][3]
The designation has been used since 1840.^[4] It was used by a large number of companies, but is often associated in particular with the Cunard line, which held a number of high-profile mail contract business, and which traditionally prefixed the titles of all its ships with the initials "RMS". The best-known ship carrying the prefix is almost certainly the RMS ''Titanic'' of the White Star Line.
Technically, a ship would use the prefix only while contracted to carry mail, and would revert at other times to a standard type designation such as "SS".
Initially the Admiralty operated these ships. In 1850 contracts were awarded to private companies. The most valuable route, with the highest volume, was between Kingstown (now Dún Laoghaire), in Ireland, and Holyhead in Wales. The City of Dublin Steam Packet Company (CDSPCo) won the contract and purchased RMS ''Saint Columa'' and RMS ''Llwywllyn'' from the Admiralty.
Having the title "RMS" was seen as a mark of quality and a competitive advantage, because the mail had to be on time. In the 1860 CDSPCo contract there was a penalty clause of £1 1s 4d for every minute's delay.
In recent years the shift to air transport for mail has left only two ships with the right to the prefix; RMS ''St. Helena'', which serves the island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic, and RMS ''Queen Mary 2''. QM2 was conferred "RMS" by Royal Mail when she entered service in 2004 on the Southampton to New York route as a gesture to Cunard's history.^[1]
The less common designations 'RMMV', for 'Royal Mail Motor Vessel', and 'RMMS', for 'Royal Mail Motor Ship', were used for a period when RMS was restricted to steam-ships.

Contents

List of RMS Ships

External links

Notes

List of RMS Ships

Name	Line	Maiden Voyage	Left Service	Fate
Queen Elizabeth 2	Cunard	1969		''in service until 2008''
Queen Mary 2	Cunard	2004		''in service''
Adriatic	White Star	1907	1934	broken-up
Aquitania	Cunard	1914	1950	broken-up
Arabia	Peninsular and Oriental	1898	1916	sunk (enemy action)
Arlanza	Royal Mail Lines	1912	1938	broken-up
Atlantic	White Star	1871	1873	sunk
Baltic	White Star	1904	1933	broken-up
Britannia	Cunard	1840	1880	sunk
Britannic	White Star	1929	1960	broken-up
Lucania	Cunard	1893	1909	broken-up
Carpathia	Cunard	1903	1918	sunk (enemy action)
Caronia	Cunard	1949	1974	broken-up
Celtic	White Star	1901	1933	broken-up
Cedric	White Star	1903	1932	broken-up
Dunottar Castle	Union Castle	1890	1915	sunk
Empress of Australia	Canadian Pacific	1922	1952	broken-up
Etruria	Cunard	1885	1909	broken-up
Homeric	White Star	1922	1935	broken-up
Laconia	Cunard	1922	1942	sunk (enemy action)
Laconia	Cunard	1912	1917	sunk (enemy action)
Lusitania	Cunard	1907	1915	sunk (enemy action)
Mauretania	Cunard	1939	1965	broken-up
Maloja	Peninsular and Oriental	1923	1954	broken-up
Majestic	White Star	1922	1940	broken-up
Mooltan	Peninsular and Oriental	1923	1953	broken-up
Niagara	Union Steamship	1912	1940	sunk (enemy action)
Oceanic	White Star	1871	1896	broken-up
Queen Elizabeth	Cunard	1940	1968	broken-up
Royal Adelaide	City of Dublin Steam Packet	1838	1849	sunk
Georgic	White Star	1933	1954	broken-up
Olympic	White Star	1911	1935	broken-up
Mauretania	Cunard	1907	1935	broken-up
Queen Mary	Cunard	1936	1967	retired
Umbria	Cunard	1884	1910	broken-up
Scythia	Cunard	1921	1958	broken-up
Titanic	White Star	1912	1912	sunk
Windsor Castle	Union-Castle	1960	1998	broken-up
Viceroy of India	Peninsular and Oriental	1927	1942	sunk (enemy action)
Oceanic	White Star	1899	1914	broken-up
St. Helena	HM Government	1990		''in service''
Snaefell	Isle of Man Steam Packet	1910	1918	sunk (enemy action)
Mona's Queen	Isle of Man Steam Packet	1934	?	?
King Orry	Isle of Man Steam Packet	1911	?	?
Lady of Mann	Isle of Man Steam Packet	1930	?	?
Ben My Chree	Isle of Man Steam Packet	1927	?	?
Peel Castle	Isle of Man Steam Packet	1894	?	?
Fenella	Isle of Man Steam Packet	1937	?	?
Tynwald	Isle of Man Steam Packet	1937	?	?
Segwun	?	1887		''in service''
Trent	Royal Mail Steam Packet	1841	1865	broken-up
Leinster	City of Dublin Steam Packet		1918	sunk (enemy action)
Servia	Cunard	1881	1901	broken-up

External links

★ Historic Ocean Liners

★ RMS ''Caronia'' "Green Goddess" Time-Line

★ Titanic Archive

Notes

1. Royal Mails employees Courier newspaper page 20 August 2007
2. http://www.nqsouthern.com/digitalpublication/digitalpublications/index.cfm?dpid=89§ion_id=673
3. http://www.fotw.net/flags/gb-rmail.html
4. The first citation in the ''Times'' is from August 18, 1840
5. Royal Mails employees Courier newspaper page 20 August 2007